Things that can move The US:
- Asia quiet: Japan -.83%, China, HK closed, SoKo +.38%, Aust flat
- Japan Tankan survey lg mfgrs -3 vs -4 expected, -1 previous
- China manufacturing PMI 49.8 vs 50.1 expected, 49.2 previous
- China leading index 99.63 vs 99.24 previous
- Europe strong: Eurostoxx +1.15%, Dax +1.22%, FTSE +.95%
- EC CDS slightly improved overnight
- EC PMIs as expected; region's PMI 46.1 vs 46.1 exp, 46.0 previous
- UK mfg PMI 48.4 vs 49.0 expected, 49.6 previous
Though Asia is quiet with the Chinese contingent on holiday all this week, Europe has begun with a bang, advancing by more than 1% overnight on seemingly no news of note. There was a slew of data out of the EC, notably the manufacturing PMI series for most countries, though the numbers came in pretty much as expected. Given that the headline EC number was comfortably in recession territory at 46.1, that's probably not the answer. Bloomberg is attributing the strength to relief about Spain's stress test results on Friday, but since no one believes European (or any other) stress tests, it's probably not that either. My hunch: first day of the quarter, pure and simple.